Despite her young age, KIRSTEN DUNST has become one of the most
familiar faces working in motion pictures and television.
Born Kirsten Caroline Dunst on April 30, 1982 in Point Pleasant,
New Jersey, Dunst has spent most of her life in front of the
camera. At the age of three she became a Ford model and commercial
actor, and continued to do modeling and commercials until her 1989
film debut in Woody Allen's "New York Stories." Her uncredited role
led to a part in 1990's "Bonfire of the Vanities," in which she
played Tom Hanks' daughter.
Dunst first gained attention for her critically hailed performance
in 1994's "Interview With the Vampire." Portraying a blood-thirsty
young vampire, Dunst played the only significant female role in a
cast dominated by big-named male stars, including Tom Cruise,
Christian Slater, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Stephen Rea.
Dunst's performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination, as well
as the Blockbuster Video Award for 'Best Supporting Newcomer,' an
MTV Movie Award for 'Best Breakthrough Performance' and the
Saturn Award for 'Best Young Actress'. The film's success and that
of the same year's "Little Women," in which she portrayed the
youngest March sister made her one of Hollywood's most bankable
child actors.
In 1995, Dunst appeared in the Robin Williams action-fantasy
"Jumanji" and then lent her voice to several animated features,
including 1997's "Anastasia." She also starred in "Mother
Night" with Nick Nolte, and had a small but memorable role as a
Screen Actors Guild card-hungry actress in Barry Levinson's highly
praised political satire "Wag the Dog" with Robert De Niro and
Dustin Hoffman. The following year, she starred in the children's
action flick "Small Soldiers."
1999 marked a turning point in Dunst's career, as she began
appearing in films that cast her as a young woman rather than a
precocious child. She had major roles in three films:
"Strike!" with Rachael Leigh Cook and Heather Matarazzo, as a
small-town beauty contestant in the comedy "Drop Dead Gorgeous"
and as a teenage girl who unwittingly uncovers the Watergate
scandal in the comedy "Dick." Dunst then had a leading role
as the sexually rebellious Lux Lisbon in Sofia Coppola's highly
anticipated film adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides' novel "The
Virgin Suicides," which premiered at Cannes in May of 1999.
The $70 million gross of Dunst's cheerleading comedy "Bring it
On" in 2000 established her as a major player who could ensure
the possibility of a substantial audience. In 2001, Dunst
did her share of the teen romantic comedy genre, appearing in
"Get Over It," then played love interest to a tortured soul in
"The Crow: Salvation" and portrayed a reckless rich girl in
"crazy/beautiful." Subsequently cast as the actress Marion
Davies in Peter Bogdanovich's "The Cat's Meow," Dunst got her
first shot at playing a grown woman.
In 2001, Dunst was catapulted to the realm of full-fledged movie
stars with her role as Mary Jane in the successful adaptation of
the comic book classic "Spider-Man," one of the most successful
films in motion picture history. Dunst will soon be seen in the
independent feature "All Forgotten." She is also attached to
reprise her role in two "Spider-Man" sequels.
Dunst's career has not been limited to the big screen. In
addition to a critically acclaimed role on the hit television
series "ER," for which she was named by The Hollywood Reporter
as 'Best Young Star' for the portrayal of a teenage prostitute,
she starred in Showtime's "The Outer Limits," the telefilm "Ruby
Ridge: an American Tragedy," the Wonderful World of Disney
telefilm "Tower of Terror," Lifetime Television's telefilm "15
and Pregnant" and Showtime's "Devil's Arithmetic," produced by
Dustin Hoffman and Mimi Rogers.
Dunst appeared in the Savage Garden music video "I Knew I Loved
You."
![[Kirsten Dunst]](kirsten.jpg)